Monday, October 1, 2012

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set - Card #83

Just over a year ago now I decided I was going to do a series of posts where I'd create the ultimate baseball and hockey franken-sets from my collection. In the 12 months that have passed since I've selected exactly 3 baseball cards. I know this is a lifelong project, but that pace is just not going to cut it. Luckily, I picked up a card at another show yesterday that's perfect for my set. Before we get to that though, here's a quick refresher on the cards I've selected so far.

For card #5 I chose Thurman Munson's 1971 Topps card. This one is an absolute classic and possibly my favorite baseball card of the entire decade. I don't see this card ever being superseded in the set.

For a variety of reasons I chose Cal Ripken Jr's 1982 Topps rookie card as card #21. Like the Munson, it's one of those cherished classics that is recognizable to almost any collector. More importantly for me though, it was the first big rookie card I ever landed, and I still have my original childhood copy to this day.

Finally, for card #232 I selected this Minnie Minoso Record Breaker card. This is definitely the one card I've selected so far that I could see being replaced someday, but I just found the feat of hitting a single in a Major League game at age 53 so impressive. #232 is a bit of an odd number also, so maybe Minoso has a chance of sticking around for a while after all...

Anyway, for today's post I'm selecting card #83 for the set. Some of you may know where this is going, as I can't think of any other #83s that are more well-known than the one I picked up yesterday...

As I've generally done with these posts, we'll look at some of the runners-up first. Will Clark makes an appearance at #83 in my collection, as Mr. Intense. I do have a soft spot for these Emotion cards, but not enough to select this one for my set.

Here's a brand new #83, a very recent addition to my Nolan Ryan collection from this past Saturday's card show. One of my favorite players, and very shiny, but doesn't make the cut.

Ozzie Smith is another of my childhood favorites, and I do like both of the Upper Deck Masterpieces sets, however this isn't one of the most impressive cards from the 2008 set. Apologies to the Wizard but he's not getting in yet.

I've also got a couple of vintage Red Sox cards that I briefly considered. There's this Earl Wilson hand-cut Post card from 1963...

...and this '55 Topps Tom Brewer. Both nice cards, but neither can top this obvious choice:

1983 Topps - #83 - Ryne Sandberg RC

This Sandberg rookie is one of those cards that for whatever reason took me way too long to finally purchase. It may seem silly to say this about a card from 1983 Topps, but I've been searching this one out for years. I think my own frugal nature was my biggest obstacle the entire time, as I often saw them priced at $10 or more in the condition (mint) that I was looking for, and just didn't want to shell out that much for one. Even at Sunday's show I passed on two copies of this card that the dealers were unwilling to go lower than $10 on. My patience paid off at last though, as I found this one in a miscellaneous box of 80s cards in top loaders for just $5. I would have to say that this was the card I was happiest to come home from Sunday's show with.

So, can you think of a card #83 that can rival this one, or do you think I made the right choice?

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set, which now stands at 4 cards and counting, can be seen here.